The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Annual Report 2014–2015

“As a First Nation Chief for 28 years, my
Trudeau mentorship experience has been
an educational, personal, and business
home run. Nowhere else do some of the
best young educated future Canadian
leaders mix with some of the most accomplished
business, legal, and political people
in this country. I have never experienced
such a highly educated and accomplished
group of diverse Canadians gather in one
room and learn from one another — this
is the core of what Pierre Elliott Trudeau
Foundation gatherings are all about.”
– Clarence Louie, 2014 Trudeau mentor
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Building bridges
From the outset, the opportunity to establish a privileged
relationship with a mentor differentiates the Trudeau
doctoral scholarship from other funding sources. Some
Trudeau mentors advise scholars about their career
options or offer a fresh take on how their research
findings could be applied. Other mentors invite scholars
to accompany them to meetings with heads of organizations
and other policymakers. Regardless of how the
mentoring relationship evolves, the Mentorship Program
acts as a catalyst.
The role of mentors goes well beyond the mentors’
individual relationships with scholars. Through their
ideas and advice, mentors actively enrich the entire
Foundation community. For example, a number of mentors
have shared their experience at workshops at the
Foundation’s Summer Institute. For the third year in a
row, mentor and former journalist Rosemary Thompson
gave a workshop on how to write an opinion piece that
the media will notice. Mentors Jillian Stirk and Glenda
Yeates prepared community members to contribute
to public policy in the Canadian public service and
foreign service. Frances Lankin spoke to researchers
and practitioners on the benefits of harnessing team
intelligence, while Bob Moody and Mary Simon outlined
some of the mediation and negotiation skills that are
essential for a strong, engaged community.
Other mentors have spoken at Foundation events,
sat on Foundation selection committees, and recommended
improvements in Foundation programs. Still
others, like Susan M. W. Cartwright and Chuck Strahl,
have become members of the Foundation’s Board
of Directors.
Trudeau mentors are Canadians who are engaged
and recognized in the public, private, cultural, and
not-for-profit sectors. Our mentors help the scholars,
all members of the Foundation community, and the
Foundation itself, build bridges between the world of
research and the public space, with the intention
of creating a better understanding of issues and their
possible solutions.
An expert in foreign policy and multilateral negotiations,
Jillian Stirk is a former ambassador to Norway and
a former assistant deputy minister in the Department
of Foreign Affairs. Her experience of mentorship has
been very enriching so far. Says Stirk: “My appointment
as a mentor with the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
has been one of the most rewarding things I have done
since retiring from the public service. I have been
fortunate to be paired with two exceptional Trudeau
scholars, and I learn as much from them as I hope they
do from me. Together we explore ideas, exchange
connections, and debate public policy. The Foundation
really is a community of ideas and action, a group
of people committed to using the very best research to
make a difference in the world.”
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In brief
• Over 450 heads of business, public sector
representatives, and other accomplished
Canadians were asked to recommend mentor
candidates.
• 110 nominations were examined this year.
• At the end of the process, nine Trudeau mentors
were selected.
• The Foundation has appointed 106 Trudeau
mentors to date.
• For more information, see
trudeaufoundation.ca/mentorship
Honour roll sampler
• 2014 mentor David Schindler received three
awards recognizing his exceptional achievements
in protecting the environment and
biodiversity: the Redfield Award for Lifetime
Achievement, the NatureServe Conservation
Award, and the Canadian Association of
University Teachers Distinguished Academic
Award.
• 2006 mentor Sheila Watt-Cloutier published
her memoirs about her life as an environmentalist
and human rights activist. In her
book, she uses her personal experience to
explore the complex relationships between
protecting the environment and promoting
the culture and future of the Arctic.
• 2008 mentors Janice MacKinnon and Monica
Patten were invested into the Order of Canada.
• 2009 mentor Alanis Obomsawin was
appointed a Companion of the Order
of Arts and Letters of Quebec.
• 2013 mentor and former president of the
University of Prince Edward Island Wade
McLauchlan became premier of Prince
Edward Island.
• 2009 mentor James Bartleman published
the third volume of his fiction trilogy
on the theme of social justice. His novel,
Exceptional Circumstances, deals with
members of First Nations who are perceived
as strangers in Canadian society.